STROLLING AROUND LONDON

 

f/3.5 | 1/800 sec | iso 400 | 18.0 mm | 16.0-50.0 mm

London is a favourite European city for many visitor, for many reasons and will always be mine. Either you travel for business trip, holiday or even honeymoon. The people, the culture and it's history. Also the architecture, the city parks, and many more exciting place in London. Oh London you have a special place in my heart. 

If you're looking for what to do or where to go in London for first timer visitor, then here is the London itinerary. My most favourite places in London that you have to visit while you were in London. You won't regret. 

Greenwich

Lay down peeps... relax and chill

(read Grin-ij not Green-wich) Famed for giving its name to Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich is where hemispheres meet and is home to a World Heritage Site. It is located in south-east London. Many places you can enjoy visiting in Greenwich such as, Royal Observatory Greenwich, Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Park, Old Royal Naval College, and more. 

As Beautiful as it is.... Greenwich!

Greenwich Square

Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark is a British Clipper Ship and one of the fastest ship at it's era. Coming at the end of a long period of design development, which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.

Royal Observatory Greenwich

Hyde Park

Hyde Park

This is my most favorite park i've ever been. Hyde park is one of London's eight Royal Parks and covers an area of 350 acres. It is located in Central London and the largest park in London. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long water lakes. For me it's more than a park. It has speaker's corner for campaign, protest and marches. Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner has acquired an international reputation for demonstrations and other protests due to its tolerance of free speech.

Another view of Hyde Park

Catch me if you can!

As you can see, it is a squirrel. Hyde Park provides a unique habitat for flora and fauna. Yes, they are all protected. The Serpentine itself attracts a large number of wildfowl into the park. 

Blooming Day!

The locals

I guess i found my happiest place on earth. Nope, not Disneyland. This park. Hyde Park London. This park is really fascinating, i spent lots of hours without get any bored at all. 

Westminster

The House of Parliament and Big Ben

Famed for The palace of Westminster (House of Parliament), Westminster bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Westminster square also many more. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, in Central London. All those buildings were mentioned above are the iconic landmark of London and of the United Kingdom in General so that all those buildings have been a Grade 1 listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

A Magnificient of Big Ben

This is a must visit place for every first timer visitor. A Big Ben Tower, people! All these surrounding buildings are the landmark of London and the UK itself. Anyway, remember a terrorist attack in 2017 at Westminster London? Well, i was arrived in London two days after. I thought it would be insecure, specially for a moslem tourist. But i was wrong. The campaign through the hashtag at all over social media #wearenotafraid (we are not afraid) has been successfully made it. There were some armies guarding around Westminster. Everything was just chill after the attack, include the locals. No worries. Bravo Londoners.

A tribute to all the victims of Westminster's attack in 2017

Westminster Square or known as Parliament Square 

London Eye

The London eye as they call it so. Formerly a millennium wheel, it is more than a ferris wheel. It is the tallest when it was built. But then, it was surpassed by the star of Nanchang in China. While all that iconic buildings of Westminster are lies on the north bank of the River Thames, The London Eye is located on the south bank of the River Thames. 

London Eye & the well known Double Decker bus

Mom with The Winston Churchill Statue

The Parliament Square is a home for twelve statues of British, Commonwealth and foreign political figures. Start from Winston Churchill, Moh. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, etc. 

A Corner of Parliament Square

St. Paul Cathedral

Beautiful St. Paul Cathedral

It is an Anglican cathedral in London, which as the cathedral of the Bishop of London, serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London (not Rome). It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the city of London and is a Grade 1 listed building. The Cathedral is a working church with hourly prayer and daily services. It becomes the busiest cathedral in London. The Cathedral is open for public (tourist) with the entry fee around £15-20. The ticket entry is worth for what you will see at the inside of the building. It is a beautiful cathedral. 

From the backyard

An Interior of St. Paul Cathedral

St. Paul Cathedral

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is the place where the crown jewels are stored and it also interesting to hear about the history of the tower. I highly recommend you buying ticket to get inside by online, not just taking photograph at the outside. You save money by buying tickets online and definitely save time because the queue is quite long.  

The Tower of London

The Tower of London's yard

Traditional local Village from decades 

The Tower Bridge

Often confused as London Bridge which is the bridge further up from the Tower Bridge, it is located right next to the Tower of London and is the most colorful of the bridges crossing the Thames.

The Majesty of Tower Bridge

The Shard Tower

The Shard Tower (left), the Tower bridge (right) and the Thames River

It's a 72 storey skyscraper designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano. Standing tall 309.6 metres high, it makes the tallest building in the UK. It is also the second tallest free standing structure in the UK. Go to the top floor where you can go to an observation deck called the view from the Shard. The Concept is just look alike London Eye. 

The Shadow of Shard tower

The Thames River from the above

Queuing The Elevator to 72nd. Floor

Buckingham Palace

Yes, it is a Queen's residence. Be there before 11am to watch the changing of the guard. It happens almost daily in the spring - summer at 11am. 

Straight to Buckingham Palace

The Crowd was real!

The Changing Guard

Emirates Stadium

The House of Arsenal

London has many great stadium in a very large cappacity, try to visit one of them. I chose Emirates stadium. It is a football stadium in Highbury, England and the home of Arsenal. With a capacity of 60.704 people, it is the fourth largest football stadium in England after Wembley, Old Trafford and Tottenham stadium. Anyway the ticket is quite expensive if you want to get into the stadium, but if you just want to take a look the store, it's free. 

Harrods

Finally Harrods. It is a luxurious department store and also becomes the largest and most famous department store in Europe. Go to the food hall, it is serving verything from high tea to tapas to pub food to haute cuisine. Love the pastry. There's something i love most about this department store which is they are empower the street musician to perform at it's courtyard. Anyway you are not allowed to take a photo inside the store.

Very Well Performed Musician!

Regent's Park and London Central Mosque

The Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks in London. The Park is grade 1 listed on The Register of Historic park and Gardens. Just like Hyde Park, this park is also beautiful. 

Regent's Park

There's a central Mosque beside this Park. It is called London Central Mosque. This Park will be crowded on friday after Friday Prayer. This park is all moslems favorite's place to have Iftar during Ramadhan. So after iftar they can continue the prayer at London Central Mosque near this park. 

London Central Mosque

Do you know why i love London so much? Because it's modern and tradition meets and collaborates beautifully, Culture and History are well preserved and most of all because it's tolerance. All Religions are welcomed in here. You are British or immigrants, white or black, gay, lesbian, or so whatever your identity is, you have an equal rights and law as British Citizens. 
So.... will i go back to London? For sure! coz why not! 😀